Simulating Double-Peak Hydrographs from Single Storms over Mixed-Use Watersheds
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 20, Issue 11
Abstract
Two-peak hydrographs after a single rain event are observed in watersheds and storms with distinct volumes contributing as fast and slow runoff. The authors developed a hydrograph model able to quantify these separate runoff volumes to help in estimation of runoff processes and residence times used by watershed managers. The model uses parallel application of two advection-diffusion equations and calibrates the model’s fast and slow time parameters as well as a coefficient representing the relative size of the smaller hydrograph peak. The model provides an accurate representation of hydrograph timing, volume, peak, points of inflection, and recession rate, and its parameters represent physical processes of advection and diffusion and relate to watershed scale. The authors calibrated the model to match observed two-peak hydrographs with high efficiency on a watershed with distinct urban and rural land cover, and another watershed with distinct fast runoff from saturated areas. The Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of the simulated discharge was 0.93 for the urban watershed and 0.92 for the rural watershed. For the urban watershed, the simulated slow runoff volume was 89.6% of total runoff, and the fast runoff volume was 10.4% of total runoff; and for the rural watershed, the simulated slow runoff volume was 93.1% of total runoff, and the fast runoff volume was 6.9% of total runoff. This parsimonious two-peak hydrograph model can help researchers investigate how different storms and land cover types partition fast and slow flow and impact rainfall-runoff dynamics.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by funding from the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station iTree Spatial Simulation grant PL-5937 and the National Urban and Community Forest Advisory Council iTree Tool grant 11-DG-11132544-340. The SUNY ESF Department of Environmental Resources Engineering provided computing facilities and logistical support.
References
Beven, K. (2006). “A manifesto for the equifinality thesis.” J. Hydrol., 320(1), 18–36.
Criss, R. E., and Winston, W. E. (2008a). “Discharge predictions of a rainfall-driven theoretical hydrograph compared to common models and observed data.” Water Resour. Res., 44(10), W10407.
Criss, R. E., and Winston, W. E. (2008b). “Properties of a diffusive hydrograph and the interpretation of its single parameter.” Math. Geosci., 40(3), 313–325.
Doherty, J. (2001). PEST surface water utilities user’s manual, Watermark Numerical Computing, Brisbane, Australia.
Homer, C., et al. (2007). “Completion of the 2001 national land cover database for the counterminous United States.” Photogramm. Eng. Remote Sens., 73(4), 337–341.
Hooper, R. P., and Shoemaker, C. A. (1986). “A comparison of chemical and isotopic hydrograph separation.” Water Resour. Res., 22(10), 1444–1454.
Huber, W. C., and Dickinson, W. T. (1992). “Storm water management model.”, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Athens, GA.
Joerin, C., Beven, K. J., Iorgulescu, I., and Musy, A. (2002). “Uncertainty in hydrograph separations based on geochemical mixing models.” J. Hydrol., 255(1–4), 90–106.
McNamara, J. P., Kane, D. L., and Hinzman, L. D. (1997). “Hydrograph separations in an Arctic watershed using mixing model and graphical techniques.” Water Resour. Res., 33(7), 1707–1719.
Nash, J. E., and Sutcliffe, J. V. (1970). “River flow forecasting through conceptual models. Part I—A discussion of principles.” J. Hydrol., 10(3), 282–290.
Refshaard, J., Storm, B., and Singh, V. (1995). Computer models of watershed hydrology, Water Resources Publications, CO, 809–846.
Rinaldo, A., et al. (2011). “Catchment travel time distributions and water flow in soils.” Water Resour. Res., 47(7), W07537.
Smith, K., and Ward, R. (1998). Floods: Physical processes and human impacts, Wiley, Chichester, U.K.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). (2008). “HEC-RAS river analysis system.”, Hydrologic Engineering Center, Davis, CA.
Wels, C., Cornett, R. J., and Lazerte, B. D. (1991). “Hydrograph separation: A comparison of geochemical and isotopic tracers.” J. Hydrol., 122(1), 253–274.
Wittenberg, H., and Sivapalan, M. (1999). “Watershed groundwater balance estimation using streamflow recession analysis and baseflow separation.” J. Hydrol., 219(1), 20–33.
Yang, Y., and Endreny, T. A. (2013). “Watershed hydrograph model based on surface flow diffusion.” Water Resour. Res., 49(1), 507–516.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 20 • Issue 11 • November 2015
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 24, 2014
Accepted: Mar 10, 2015
Published online: Apr 24, 2015
Discussion open until: Sep 24, 2015
Published in print: Nov 1, 2015
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.